Blowdrying: extent of damage?

• Blowdrying: extent of damage?
  

  

  Eisweisktar

  
  

  It takes my hair about two and a half hours to airdry completely (with about 5 minutes of towel drying before, more towel drying doesn't seem to help really).

  Recently, while at home for the summer, I tried blowdrying my hair after washing. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes to blowdry my hair at medium heat setting. I tried "high" setting two or three times and it took only like 10 minutes, but the air really felt too hot and I decided not to experiment with that anymore.

  Anyways, this gain in drying speed is really nice. This means that when I'm back at college, I can get up just an hour to class, take a shower, dry my hair completely and have 10-15 minutes for other stuff before class. Last academic year I had the problem where I would have to go to class with wet hair (not such a good idea during winter, eh?) because even over an hour of airdrying time wasn't enough (and I couldn't get up any earlier, 8am classes :/ ).

  ---- So, here are the questions:

  * just how much damage does blowdrying do?
  * what sort of damage is it? (i.e. exactly what damage is done)
  * is it possible to treat or compensate for this damage? (any special products, or types of products?)
  * how much does the damage change between 'medium' and 'high' settings? (I'm not planning on using low, it seems to be hardly worth the trouble)
  * what is the quietest blow-dryer on the market? (i wouldn't want to wake up my roommate/suitemates in the morning, my mother's blow dryer is pretty damn loud)

  Thanks very much in advance for answering these questions :O)

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  • Re: Blowdrying: extent of damage?
    

    

    Tim Beard

    
    

    I admit that I blow dry my hair too often because I don't want to wait for it to air dry.

    * just how much damage does blowdrying do?
    * what sort of damage is it? (i.e. exactly what damage is done)

    I think blow drying causes MY hair to get split ends.

    * is it possible to treat or compensate for this damage?

    To remove split ends, often I will look at my hair, find split ends and clip them off one at a time, leaving each hair as long as possible.

    * how much does the damage change between 'medium' and 'high' settings?

    It's probably the hairdryer's heat and the combing/brushing it that causes the damage. The amount of damage varies from person to person. What may work for one person's hair might not for another's hair.

    * what is the quietest blow-dryer on the market?

    I don't know. I always wish that they would print on the package the volume of noise (in decibels) products make (especially things like lawn mowers and vacuum cleaners), so consumers can know what they are buying. Some consumer information web sites may have such information. Store web sites have a long way to go in terms of adding product information consumers need to make decisions. Someone who works at a barber or hair salon may know.

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    • Re: Blowdrying: extent of damage?
      

      

      SFMike

      
      

      You may want to check out this blowdryer - uses infrared vs coil heat @ about 800 watts!

      http://www.21stcip.com/pages/main.html

      I admit that I blow dry my hair too often because I don't want to wait for it to air dry.

      * just how much damage does blowdrying do?
      * what sort of damage is it? (i.e. exactly what damage is done)

      I think blow drying causes MY hair to get split ends.

      * is it possible to treat or compensate for this damage?

      To remove split ends, often I will look at my hair, find split ends and clip them off one at a time, leaving each hair as long as possible.

      * how much does the damage change between 'medium' and 'high' settings?

      It's probably the hairdryer's heat and the combing/brushing it that causes the damage. The amount of damage varies from person to person. What may work for one person's hair might not for another's hair.

      * what is the quietest blow-dryer on the market?

      I don't know. I always wish that they would print on the package the volume of noise (in decibels) products make (especially things like lawn mowers and vacuum cleaners), so consumers can know what they are buying. Some consumer information web sites may have such information. Store web sites have a long way to go in terms of adding product information consumers need to make decisions. Someone who works at a barber or hair salon may know.

      reply close reply form
      • Re: Blowdrying: extent of damage?
        

        

        Jeff

        
        

        Two pieces of advice...Thermasilk products are fantastic for protecting and conditioning the hair. I blowdry everyday and have minimal damage and almost no split ends.

        The quietest blowdryer by far is offered in the Sharper Image catalogue- it is expensive at $39.95 but us powerful at 800 watts, quiet as can be and also has a cool setting for blowing cool air. It is excellent and very efficient.

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  • Re: Blowdrying: extent of damage?
    

    

    ken

    
    

    I bought a hair dryer that has a cool air feature. It does not damage my hair but it basically air drys it faster without the split ends.

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